My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 129: The Silent City

"An infected," Cindy muttered, her voice low as she peered through the binoculars.

Everyone’s attention snapped toward her. Natasha eased the car to a slow stop, her hands steady on the wheel. Jaxon, already looking through his scope, spotted it too, a bald infected, roughly five hundred meters ahead, sprinting with unusual purpose.

"Wait, Jaxon... don’t shoot," Na-rin called from the back, her tone urgent. Jaxon froze, his finger hovering over the trigger.

"The infected... they’re acting weird," Natasha said, eyes narrowing. "It should’ve heard the engine and charged straight at us. But it didn’t."

A tense silence settled over the group. They had faced a similar situation once before, back when they fought the infected alongside the special unit, but they hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Now, however, they realized something was off.

"It’s moving," Na-rin added, pointing subtly. Jaxon refocused, watching the creature carefully. Its direction was clear...

"Ironpoint City," Isabel muttered under her breath.

Na-rin’s expression darkened. "The military warned us about that place... this has to be connected."

The group fell silent, processing the implications. Then Jaxon made his decision.

A small drone materialized in his hands, the same one they had used back then. He hadn’t had a chance to deploy it before, but now the timing was perfect.

"Natasha, keep a safe distance and follow behind it. Once we’re near the city, we’ll deploy the drone," he instructed, handing it to Cindy.

Natasha’s brow furrowed, her gaze searching his. "Jaxon, if something dangerous comes up that we can’t handle... we turn back."

Jaxon nodded. "Agreed. But let’s see what’s really going on first."

Their vehicle rolled forward slowly, stopping as they approached the outskirts of the city.

Moments later, Jaxon lay flat on the roof of the Hilux, following the infected that had been running nonstop since earlier. ’Does this thing never get tired?’ he thought. It had been covering a long distance without pause, its pace relentless.

They kept a safe distance, unwilling to risk venturing too close to the city. The tree line thinned gradually, giving way to broken streets and abandoned buildings as the infected barreled forward.

Before it could reach the first buildings, Jaxon squeezed the trigger. His bullet struck the creature’s shoulder, throwing it off balance.

"That’s the first time I’ve seen you miss," Natasha called from the car, scanning through her binoculars.

Jaxon pushed himself up from the roof and leapt down onto the ground. "You’ll be the one to finish it," he said, glancing at her with a small grin.

"What?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, startled.

"Consider this your first lesson," Jaxon replied, still smiling.

Moments later, they both crouched in the wet grass as the wounded infected staggered toward the city.

Natasha lifted the DMR he had handed her, hesitation flashing in her eyes. "You’re serious?"

Jaxon stepped close behind her. You’ve been watching long enough. You can do it."

Natasha exhaled and lifted the DMR, taking careful aim. She steadied her breathing and pulled the trigger.

The silent bullet struck the dirt a few inches away from the target.

Natasha frowned. "Why did I miss? I aimed right at it.

"It’s moving," Jaxon said calmly, stepping closer. "You have to account for its momentum, predict where it’ll be, not where it is." He paused for a moment, then added, "Again."

Natasha steadied her breathing and fired a second shot. This time it landed closer, but still short. She clicked her tongue under her breath. "This thing won’t stay still."

"You’re learning fast," Jaxon encouraged, watching her carefully. "For over five hundred meters away, that’s already better than my first tries."

A few meters back, Cindy quietly launched the drone. It rose smoothly above the treeline, its small frame disappearing into the sky before tilting toward the city.

Isabel and Na-rin stood beside her, eyes locked on the screen mounted at the top of the controller.

The drone’s camera crossed the outer roads, and the city came into view.

Buildings still stood tall, their glass windows dull under the sunlight. Traffic lights swayed over empty intersections. Store signs clung stubbornly to faded walls.

There was no sign of life. Cars sat abandoned in the middle of the road, some with doors slightly open. A bus leaned awkwardly near a curb, as if the driver had stopped mid-escape. Loose papers skittered across the streets in the wind. Shutters hung half-closed, never fully pulled down.

Cracks ran along some walls. A few windows were shattered. Weeds had begun pushing through the sidewalks.

The drone continued its slow sweep. Na-rin leaned closer to the display, eyes narrowing. The main road leading deeper into the city was clear. No movement between the buildings, no figures in the alleys.

"No infected in sight," Cindy whispered.

The drone pivoted toward the heart of the city. Trees thinned out, streets widened. Skyscrapers loomed higher ahead, their windows dark and lifeless.

Everything felt frozen, as if the city had simply been paused.

Moments later, Jaxon returned, carrying the severed limbs of the infected Natasha had killed.

"I know it’s unpleasant," he said, dropping the limbs carefully, black blood seeping onto the ground, "but we have to mask our scent since we’ll be spending the night here."

The girls hesitated, grimacing at the sight, but methodically began wiping the slimy black blood on their clothes, doing what needed to be done.

"We’ll camp here for a while," Jaxon said, "and continue observing from a distance."

Even without targets, Natasha and Jaxon kept practicing, firing at random objects around the perimeter.

Hours passed. The sky darkened completely, yet the city revealed nothing. No movement, no clues, nothing that explained the strange behavior of the infected.

A small battery lantern illuminated the ground as the group huddled in a loose circle. Jaxon had pulled out a simple meal from his storage space, stew with vegetables, chicken, and meat.

Na-rin sat quietly, staring at him, hesitating as if she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how.

Jaxon couldn’t help but chuckle at her hesitant expression. "Hey, I’m not forbidding you from asking questions," he said, glancing at Na-rin.

After a long pause, she finally spoke. "Why... why is the food warm?"

"The moment I store something, it keeps the state it had when I pull it out," Jaxon explained casually.

Na-rin’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Can you... store living beings?"

"No."

She nodded slowly, thinking for a moment. "What about infected?"

"...I haven’t tried," he admitted. "Technically, they’re dead, but not really dead in the sense you’d need to keep them alive. So... no, it wouldn’t work either way."

"I see... you’re really strange," she muttered, half in disbelief, half in fascination.

Jaxon laughed softly, remembering Natasha’s reaction when she first discovered his storage space. "You’re not the first one to think that."

The girls finished their meal and quietly climbed into the car, turning off the lights as they settled in. Jaxon stayed outside, taking the first night watch.

Under the dark sky, his eyes glimmered faintly green as his night vision skill activated. The world around him shifted into shades of green, revealing shapes and outlines in the shadows. He scanned the distant city, then glanced back at the car where the others rested.

A part of him wanted to explore the city under the cover of night, but he held himself back, remaining vigilant.

.....

The next morning, the air was heavy with damp fog. Natasha resumed her training with Jaxon, taking aim at the distant targets. Every so often, an infected drifted toward the city, and her shots found their marks.

The soundless bullets cut through the morning haze, and with every successful hit, her confidence grew. Jaxon observed silently, guiding her subtly, letting her build both skill and composure.

Meanwhile, Cindy continued piloting the drone, scanning the city from above. Despite the deserted streets, the quiet seemed almost... unnatural.

The drone hovered over an empty square, its camera sweeping every alley and rooftop. Isabel leaned closer to the screen, squinting. "There..." she whispered, pointing toward a distant rooftop.

On the far edge of the city, a lone figure stood perfectly still, silhouetted against the pale light of the morning. Cindy carefully guided the drone higher, gaining altitude, trying to get a better look.

Then the figure moved. Slowly, deliberately. It turned its head, as if sensing the drone above. And for a moment, it seemed to look straight at them.

The three girls froze.

"A variant..." Na-rin whispered.

Before anyone could react, the figure raised its arm. Cindy’s breath caught. A small, dark object shot from its hand like a spear, aimed directly at the drone.

’Move! Dodge it!’ Cindy shouted in her mind, jerking the controls, but it was too late. The object struck the drone mid-air. Sparks erupted, and the camera feed went black as the small frame plummeted out of view.

A heavy silence settled over them as the reality of what had just happened sank in. Still in shock, they turned to Jaxon, hurriedly explaining the situation.

"I’m sorry... I... lost the drone," Cindy said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jaxon shook his head, frowning. "Looks like the variants are smarter than we thought... if they even know what a drone is.

"What do we do now?" Isabel asked, her voice tight with unease.

"We keep observing and stay hidden. That’s all we can do for now."

... 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Another day passed. They remained in their positions, scanning the city with binoculars. Nothing unusual happened, just the occasional lone infected appearing and moving toward the city, each one quietly taken down by Natasha’s precise, silent shots.

By the third day, Jaxon finally pushed himself up from the ground, stretching his stiff back with a low groan.

"Natasha," he said, turning to her, "hand me your pistol."